Last Day
by dwellingonephemeraldreams
Summary: Oneshot of Aang and Katara, 53 years later.


The last rays of the sun hit the pillars of the Southern Air Temple, creating tall shadows along the large, marble-floored patio where Aang was lying on a soft chair that allowed him to lean back without hurting his already fragile body. Katara sat next to her husband, thinking about all those healers and all their words.

"_He's too weak…"_

"_We can't do anything else. Rest would be the best thing for him..."_

"_He was trapped in an iceberg for a hundred years, am I correct? That would weaken anyone's body…"_

"_Soon…"_

No, no, no. Aang wasn't weak. Aang was the strongest person she knew. Aang had defeated the Fire Lord and saved the world. Aang had lost his entire nation- his whole life- and somehow got through it with a smile on his cheerful face. Aang had defeated countless odds and rescued countless people. Aang had saved her from her forsaken village when she was so close to losing hope and took her to see things she never imagined she would ever see and learn things she never imagined she would ever know. Aang was the rock, the security in her world. Aang grew up, but he never changed. He remained annoyingly optimistic and annoyingly forgiving and annoyingly protective. He was _her _Aang, and he was strong. So why was he unable to walk, let alone bend, without someone else's help? Why did he smile less and refused to see anyone but her? Why was he sitting in that chair, peaceful and calm and scaring her? Why wasn't he the Aang that she had known for 53 years? Why was he so _weak?_

At first, nobody worried about the Avatar being unable to lift a chair to move it from the bedroom to the kitchen. He was 64 years old, after all, anyone will lose their strength after a while, right? But the weakness grew, and after another year, there was barely a trace of her Aang left. The joy that she thought would always be on his face was gone, and was replaced by lines and shadows underneath his eyes: signs of the battle he was fighting inside his body. He used to be so charming to everyone, yet he could barely string together words when the healers tried to speak to him. He still loved her though. The way his grey eyes looked when they met her blue ones never changed, and that was enough to let her know that at least in that way, he was still her Aang.

A slight wind blew, scattering strands of whitened hair on her face and fluttering his yellow robes. Katara thought about the day he had asked to go back to the Southern Air Temple. Just the two of them, he said. Like a holiday. It seemed like he knew, and maybe she did as well, but she wasn't about to give in to her own weakness. No, she had to be strong for the both of them now. Even still, she couldn't bring herself to heal him herself, and had to depend on other waterbenders, some of them she had even taught herself. They were all more than capable healers, she knew, but she wished they were wrong. _Please, let them be wrong… just a little more time, please…_

Aang interrupted her thoughts by slowly bringing a wrinkled hand up to rest on her cheek. A hand that once had the winds under its control. A firm hand that once reached down to her to offer her a dance all those years ago. She could feel tears gathering in her eyes. _I will not cry, _she told herself. _Aang hates it when I cry._

"After all this… will you go penguin sledding with me?"

The tears were a tsunami threatening to crash down on that frail comfort her and Aang had. Was there going to be any "after all this"? Katara didn't know. She didn't want to know. All she wanted was for Aang to be strong again and ask her to dance and whisper in her ear that she was his forever girl, no matter what happens. She knew that was too much to ask for, though, so she just nodded at him.

"Of course… and then afterwards, we'll get Sokka and all his kids and we'll teach them how to be warriors. We'll build a snow fortress, except this one will be better because you and I will be helping Sokka. It'll be just like before, when you first came to us."

Aang smiled and turned his head towards the sunset before resting his eyes on Katara's. For a moment, his eyes had captured the brightness of the sun and he was strong and powerful and _Aang _again. His thumb traced circles on her cheek while her hand held his. They were smiling at each other, and suddenly, they were young and full of life again, eager to fight, to save the world. Eager to love and be loved. And that was what they were doing then. A smile and a touch. It was more than enough for both of them. The hand that was holding her face slowly dropped to his side, but she still held on as she had all those years. They gazed at each other for what could have been minutes, hours, days, saying more than words ever could.

And then the light went away from his eyes and her world.


End file.
